Labour Party 'punished for putting country first'

A high-profile Labour TD who lost her seat in the election said that the party was penalised for putting the country first in 2011.

Labour has secured six seats in the 32nd Dáil, although it is in with a chance of a final seat in Longford/Westmeath, where a recount is continuing.

Second recount of Longford-Westmeath vote Has resumed at Keenagh #ge16#ldwh— RTElongfordWESTMEATH (@RTElongfordWMH) March 2, 2016

Kathleen Lynch, the outgoing junior minister at the Department of Health, said that Labour was punished for not staying in Opposition.

"I suppose, we could have, in 2011, said that we're not going to put the country first, we're going to put the party first, and stayed in Opposition and I'm sure, as others have said, that we would now be once of the biggest parties in the State," she said.

"That's not the way of the Labour Party.

"The Labour Party always takes its responsibility to the country very seriously. The country was five weeks away from being declared bankrupt."